He Throws Too Hard?

The Blue Jays traded righthander Francisco Rosario, who was out of options, to the Phillies last week for cash considerations.

The interesting thing about this seemingly minor deal is that Rosario had a decent spring in big league camp, going 1-0, 3.00 over nine innings. And more than one scout had good things to say about the 26-year-old righthander, who ranked as the organization's sixth-best prospect in our 2007 Prospect Handbook.

"He's a quiet, hard-working kid," said one scout from a National League club. "And he was one of the best guys I saw all spring. The only thing I can think is that he throws too hard. He just must throw too hard for them or something . . . I have no idea.
"He was up to 96 (mph) with his fastball and he had a good, hard slider. Two plus pitches and a change that acts like a split. I couldn't believe they let him go."